Three champions crowned at Up & Comers 8 in Tulare
By Fighting Unlimited News Staff

TULARE – Up & Comers president Jason Weiner did his best Dana White impression Saturday night at the Tulare Veteran’s Memorial Building.

At Up & Comers 8, Weiner put championship belts around the waists of three different fighters for the very first time.
In the co-main event, Visalia fighter Sandor Escobar stole the show with his submission victory against Dinuba’s Gilbert Quezada.

The two fighters battled back and forth for the majority of three rounds. Escobar, who trains with Team KO out of Farmersville, wasn’t shy about trying to lock in submissions and finally, with just 44 seconds remaining in the fight, locked in a rear-naked choke forcing Quezada to tap out.

Escobar, who was crowned the Up & Comers lightweight champion, improved to 3-1 and even celebrated with a victory lap around the cage and the building.
Hometown kid Galen Williams pleased his fans with a unanimous decision victory over Benjamin Castaneda to capture the promotions 135-pound championship.

Williams, a member of the King’s Knights fight team out of Tulare, sealed the victory with a monster slam in the third round. He finished the fight with a guillotine submission attempt.

Williams, who improved to 3-0, hopes to fight one more time before joining the Air Force in April.
And the third champion crowned was Clovis’ Tim Eastom. The Team Livewire fighter captured the welterweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Matt Blake.

Eastom improved to 5-1 in his amateur MMA career.

In other action:
In a one-sided match, Bakersfield’s Tyler Grady dominated Dinuba’s Leopoldo Quezada for a unanimous decision-victory. Grady improved to 1-0 in his amateur career, while Quezada fell to 0-2.
In a bit of an upset, Joe Casas of Team Livewire, defeated Hanford’s Aaron Mathis via unanimous decision. Casas entered the bout with a 0-2 amateur record while Mathis’ record was announced as 10-1. In each of the first two rounds, Mathis went for a submission but failed which led to Casas taking dominant position in both rounds. The third round was an all-out battle with both fighters not pulling any punches.
Selma’s Nic Contreras held off a third-round rally by Joe Amies to pick up a unanimous-decision victory in their catch-weight bout. Contreras dominated the first two rounds with his takedowns and wrestling, but Amies had Contreras on the ropes with some submission attempts. Contreras improved to 2-0 in his amateur career.
Oakdale’s Jordan Keckler wasted very little time in getting the show going with a bang. It took him just 54 seconds to lock in a rear-naked choke and force Andrew Skyers to tap out in the first bout of the night. Keckler landed a thunderous kick to Skyers’ head and after a brief scramble, took the fight to the ground where he easily locked in the submission for the 135-pound victory.